Beauty and the Geek Monkey
by cophineismymorphine
Summary: Cophine AU: Cosima is working at Disneyland for the semester, but when she sees "Belle" making eyes at her during the parade, could her education vacation become something more?
1. Chapter 1

"Cosima Niehaus?"

"That's me." A dreadlocked girl with brown eyes and black eyeliner that extended out just past the corners of her eyes on both sides stepped forward, making her presence known among the crowd of anxious college students surrounding her.

"Well, it looks like you'll be on… Main Street. Right next to the Mickey and Walt statue. You'll be taking pictures of people with any characters they see, pictures of people in front of the statue, and the parade. You snap their picture, and out prints a wristband that you give them. If they want to buy pictures, they give in the wristband at the end of the day at a picture counter. That simple. Any questions?"

"Nope."

"Good, then get going." The worker, of whom Cosima hadn't even caught the name, handed her a bulky and old-fashioned looking camera with a strap. She slung it around her neck and made her way through the maze of dehydrated children and parents clearly done attempting to control them. She sighed. What had she done to herself? She had made the conscious decision to spend the next semester outside the comfortable confines of her lab and in the "happiest place on Earth". As part of Disney's college program, she was somehow getting credit for Berkeley from this. Though, how Mickey Mouse benefited her education in evolutionary development, she wasn't entirely sure.

After a half hour of aimlessly wandering, another half hour of convincing herself she could find it without a map, and finally looking at a map, she found Main Street. The sun beating down on her in the California heat, she shielded her eyes from the rays and walked towards the statue. When she finally made it, she took a second to take it all in. Disneyland. Where dreams come true. Where happiness happens. Where-

"Hi, can me and my daughter get a picture with that statue there?"

Cosima smiled. Time to get to work.

Cosima wasn't one to whine, but boy, did she want to whine. The face characters got all the love, the joy, the affection, the smiles. She got angry moms that screamed when they found out the pictures weren't free. Why couldn't she have passed the magical princess casting test? But alas, days passed. Pictures were taken. Lunches were overpriced. A true dream come true. Her favorite part of the day, though, was always the parade. She loved the floats, the characters, the smiles, the waves, the performances even. As the parade passed by on her fifth day working there, though, he whole thing was starting to get a bit old. The sun was getting to her, making her cranky, and she was starting to miss her dear friend back at Berkeley (the lab), and she wanted water, and-

What was that?

Belle blew her a kiss.

Okay, now the sun was definitely getting to her.

I mean, Belle blew kisses at everyone during the parade, that was normal.

But when she blew a kiss at Cosima, there was something special in her eyes. A gleam. A sparkle. An eyebrow raise, even. That little lip-lick she did certainly didn't help…

Cosima shook the thoughts out of her head. This wasn't anything. This was heatstroke talking. This was her imagination talking. This was her leftover high from the joint she'd snuck in with another college employee over lunch talking. Still…

Ah, dammit. Cosima pulled out her map. Where could she find Belle?


	2. Chapter 2

Fantasyland. That was where she had to get to. She anxiously waited for the parade to finish, and when it did, immediately took off to find her supervisor.

"Hey, I'm not feeling too well," Cosima said to her boss, a hand over her stomach like she could throw up any second. "I think I might have to take off for the rest of today."

Her supervisor rolled her eyes, and marked something down in her clipboard. "Alright, go ahead. We don't need you vomiting on any customers."

"Thanks!" Cosima began speed-walking away toward Fantasyland. She took a deep breath, and re-assessed her situation. What the hell was she doing? She was chasing after a princess who made googly eyes at her during the parade! No, this wasn't who she was. She didn't run after people like this. She wasn't desperate or anything, and for that matter-

"_Bonjour, mademoiselle."_

The silky French words came from behind her. Cosima adjusted her glasses, and turned to face the woman who'd said them. And, just as Cosima had hoped, they had come from a beautiful princess.

"Hey, you. You're Belle. Hi. Belle. Hey. How's the beast these days?" Cosima laughed awkwardly, trying to regain her composure that she so easily lost looking at the gorgeous girl in front of her.

Belle laughed right back. "Cheeky one, you are. So, Cosima," she said in a smooth French accent as she glanced down at the nervous girl's name-tag, "I've been looking all over for you."

Cosima laughed again. "Oh, do you need help with determining the DNA makeup and evolutionary qualities of the beast? 'Cause if so, I'm your girl." She laughed again, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how geeky she sounded.

"Science major?"

"Evolutionary developmental biology, it's really cool, way cooler than it sounds, I swear, and- You said you've been _looking_ for me?"

"I asked around about someone who was good at makeup, and I was told your name. You're good at makeup, no?"

"Oh, well, I think. Yeah. Yes."

Belle smiled. "Well, ma chérie, if you could help me with mine, I'd be so grateful."

"Like, when? Now? We can totally do it now, but we can also do it tomorrow, or whenever you think would be best for your schedule, 'cause you're probably really busy, like, being Belle, but I can definitely teach you eyeliner and-"

"Delphine."

"Huh?"

"Call me Delphine, Cosima. I'm only Belle for so many hours in the day." Delphine smiled. And- call her crazy- Cosima swore she did the little lick-lip again.

"I'm Cosima. But you knew that, I guess."

"Well, Cosima, could you come in a little early tomorrow to where face characters get dressed and made up? You could help me get my makeup ready, teach me some things."

"Yeah, I can do that. I'll be there. Yeah."

"Thank you, Cosima." Delphine took the still flustered girl's hand and kissed it softly. She began walking away, before turning her head and smiling. "Au revoir, mademoiselle."

Cosima smiled back. "Au revoir!"

After Delphine had walked a good distance away, Cosima found the nearest bench and sat down. Her head was spinning. She took a deep breath, and tried to calm her thoughts. _Better get yourself together before tomorrow morning_, she thought to herself. _Though, how put together can you really be when you have such a princess right in front of you?_

She sighed. _I guess tomorrow morning, I'll find out._


	3. Chapter 3

Cosima took a deep breath, and steadied her hand. She carefully slicked the liquid black eyeliner out past the corner of her eye, and repeated for the other side. She gave herself a once over in the mirror, running her fingers through her long let down dreads. She smiled. Today was the day. The day she was going to really get to know Delphine. Now, if only she could think straight, that'd be nice. She sighed. Why was this gorgeous girl having such an effect on her?

The whole way to work, Cosima's mind raced. Possibilities of what could happen shot through her. Share makeup tips most definitely. A little close bonding, maybe a share a few laughs. She smiled. She was nervous, but ready.

As she made her way through those Disneyland gates and flashed her employee ID (feeling a bit superior, as she always did when she got to waltz right in as though she belonged), she headed straight for the character dressing rooms. She walked along the long corridor that flashed character names in that signature Disney font, till she reached the one that said "Belle". She stopped in front of it, and took a deep breath in. As oxygen filled her lungs with a beautiful mix of nervousness and absolute excitement, she knocked on the door in front of her. She waited… but no answer.

She knocked again. Again, no answer.

Do it, she thought to herself. Just walk right in. She took another deep breath, and opened the door to an empty room. Not entirely empty, of course. Costume pieces, makeup, a mirror. But no Delphine.

Cosima looked around, and walked over the the mirror. She stared at the vast array of lipsticks and eyeshadows in front of her; she'd never seen this much makeup in her life. Well, outside of a department store, anyway. She looked around again to make sure no one was watching, and gingerly picked up one of the lipsticks. A dark demure red. Cosima wasn't usually a person for lipstick, but she was curious. Maybe she'd look… God forbid… "sexy" for once.

She lifted the cap and twirled up the bottom, and ran it softly over each lip. She moved her lips together, making sure it was an all-over application, and smiled to herself. She didn't look half bad. As she placed the cap back on and set it back down in front of the mirror, she heard a noise. She turned her head, and immediately her face flushed as red as her lips.

"Good morning, ma cherie. I'm so sorry I'm late; I see you're getting quite comfortable though." Delphine smiled her sly smile, and made her way to the blushing girl. "My, that is a beautiful color on you," she said, eyeing her lips.

Such a statement only flustered Cosima more. "I, well, um, see, I was just trying it because I normally don't wear lipstick and I just saw it and wanted to try it on and I'm really sorry because I really should've asked first and I just-"

"I like it." The beautiful blonde moved even closer to Cosima, and smiled down at her once more. "Try it on me?"

"Like, put it on you, you mean? For you?" Cosima's mind was reeling, as it always did whenever Delphine was around.

"Yes, please. I am truly so awful at putting on my own."

"Yeah, of course! Yeah. Yeah. I can do that." Cosima calmed her shaking hands, and removed the lipstick cap once again. She gently steadied Delphine's head by softly holding onto her chin with one hand, and starting to slide on the demure red with the other. Their faces were so close, Cosima could hear every soft breath Delphine took in. Once she had finished, Delphine smacked her lips twice, and grinned at Cosima again.

"Now I'm almost as gorgeous as you." Delphine took hold of one of Cosima's dreads and twirled it around a finger.

Cosima nervously laughed. "Oh please, you're like the most beautiful person on the face of the planet."

"Impossible."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that person is standing in front of me."

Cosima's heart flew around in her chest, but she tried to remain grounded. "Seriously though, you're honestly really pretty, in like a really awesome way, like seriously I just-"

"Are you attracted to me, Cosima?"

"I mean, well, I mean, um, why?" she replied nervously and yet excitedly,

"Because I'm very attracted to you."

"I mean, I, well, yeah. Yes. Yes."

Delphine smiled her sly smile again. "So that means I can do this?" And with that, she leaned down and touched her red lips to Cosima's matching pair.


End file.
